CHICAGO-As positive momentum propels another positive first half, a recent survey shows the commercial real estate industry expects to be doing more hiring this year. According to the 2012 Global Hiring Forecast by locally based Ferguson Partners Ltd., more than 70 of the 120 executive leaders said they plan on adding more jobs, mostly junior level hires.
William Ferguson, CEO, says he surveyed the leaders, including CEOs and other senior executives from commercial firms doing investment, lending, REITs, law firms, groups and pension funds in November and December 2011. All total, 61% says they’d increase hiring, slightly higher than the 2010 survey showing of 56%, and much better than the 2009 survey when only 36% planned to boost jobs. “Companies see that the deal pipeline is going to get stronger, hence business is going to get better,” Ferguson says. “They’re feeling good enough to reinvest in infrastructure.”
He agrees that everything looked rosy, too, in the first half of 2011, right before the summer storm. “The reason, besides the debt ceiling debacle, was that a lot of people lost faith in Washington to move the economy in a positive direction,” Ferguson says. “A lot of people went on the sidelines. Now, leaders have decided they can’t manage their business by sitting on the sidelines anymore, they’re being conservative but they’re moving forward.”
Because of this conservative stance, he says companies will likely survive if there is another major global event, such as escalation of Middle East issues. “They’ve had the bit in the horse’s mouth, they have a handle on how to run their business in a crisis,” Ferguson says. “Fundamentals may be tough, but there’s strong movement in the apartment and healthcare markets. More importantly, there’s extraordinarily cheap debt and a boatload of equity capital, that will drive people to do deals.”
The survey shows that most leaders will be hiring middle-management and junior-level personnel instead of executives. Also, much of the hiring will be in North American, concentrated around the core cities versus modest demand in the US Midwest.
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